A Twist in The Tail
by Trunk'sfallenAngel
Summary: What if Koga hadn't fallen in love with Kagome? What if he had fallen for a female wolf demon that was traveling with them? How would it change the story? You have to read to find out .
1. Chapter 1

What if Koga hadn't fallen in love with Kagome? What if he had fallen for a female wolf demon that was traveling with them? How would it change the story? You have to read to find out.

...

It was a sunny day in Warring states era, Japan. I was walking with my friends Inuyasha, Kagome, Sango, Miroku, Shippo and Kirara. My name is Himitsu Hana(secret flower) and I'm a female wolf demon, the only remaining wolf demon of the eastern tribe.

I have black hair with natural purple highlights and bright silver eyes. I wear the traditional battle armor of the eastern tribe. A mid-thigh length skirt made of black wolf fur, and silver armor that stops and inch and a half above my navel, Shoulder armor covered in the same colored fur, and bandages wrapped around me wrist, ankles, and the soles of my feet. I keep my hair in a ponytail so it won't bother me when I fight. I carry two long swords strapped to my hips, and Glaive strapped to my back. Also several smaller weapons hidden amongst my armor. I even have a small knife hidden in my ponytail for emergencies. I also have a black wolf tail that was swishing slightly as I walked.

My tribe was killed by the evil half demon Naraku, who placed the blame on Inuyasha and his group. I fell for it easily since I had not seen the battle and the need for revenge was so strong I even took the word of a strange half demon for the truth. I traveled for a few weeks looking for Inuyasha, when I found him he was already wounded from another battle, but it mattered not to me. I challenged him right there, and being the stubborn dog that he is, he accepted, even in his wounded state.

Since he was so weak I quickly over powered him and would have killed him, If a laughing Naraku hadn't shown up. The bastard told me right there that _he_ had killed my tribe and set me on Inuyasha just for his own entertainment. I was beyond furious. I attacked Naraku with every bit of strength that I had but he still managed to escape me.

Inuyasha was severely wounded, and most were from my weapons and claws. I felt so remorseful that I used my strange gift.

Since I was a pup I have always been different. I was faster than any in my tribe. Which on its own, is not so strange, what _is_ strange, is that I could heal people, human or demon. Most would think that my pack would fear and ignore me because of this strange power, but they didn't. They accepted me, and Inuyasha's group did the same.

After awhile of traveling with them, I started feeling like they were my family. Inuyasha even calls me his baby sister on the rare occasion (usually when it looks we're about to die)! Sango and Kagome were like my sisters, Inuyasha and Miroku were my brothers, and I looked at Shippo and Kirara like my children.

I have traveled with them for over a year now looking for Naraku so I could avenge my clan and looking for the Sacred Jewel shards that I, like Kagome, could see.

No one knows how I can, but during a battle while Kagome was in her time, I told Inuyasha that there was a strange pink glow in the demon's forehead. He cut it open with his sword and out popped a jewel shard.

We were all surprised, but I think Lady Keade was the most surprised of all of us! Kikyo and Kagome should be the only ones that could see the shards of the jewel she said, that it simply wasn't normal for a demon such as myself to be able to see them, but then again when have I ever been normal?

So now they have two shard detectors. I didn't really know how dangerous that could be until the day we met _him._

We had been traveling since morning, when me and Kagome both said that we sensed a jewel shard. We reached a small village only to find all the villagers slaughtered.

"What is this?"Miroku asked.

" Oi! Is anyone here?"Shippo called from my shoulder. I looked around on the ground for any sign of who could have done this. I saw tracks and immediately recognized them.

"These are wolf tracks." I said to them. They all turned toward me.

"The work of a wolf pack?" Sango questioned. I nodded and looked around some more.

"And many of them. Could this be from the Sacred jewel that Hana and Kagome sensed?" Miroku said. I nodded. Suddenly a pack of wolves appeared and growled warningly at us.

"It's the man-eating wolves!" Shippo yelled and jumped back into my arms. I sat him on my shoulder and pulled out one of my swords. More wolves appeared and surrounded us.

"Keh! Let's have it out then! Without the leader, they're helpless! I'll get rid of you all!" Inuyasha said. Inuyasha starts slaughtering the wolves effortlessly with both his sword and his Iron-Reaver soul stealer. I had to look away, I had always hated seeing wolves getting hurt or killed, even if they were the enemy. The rest of the wolves ran to a nearby mound and started howling.

"They're howling!" Shippo cried.

"There calling the leader!" I warned. I knew full well how powerful a wolf pack leader could be, but I didn't have time to warn them of this before a small tornado appeared in front of us. The tornado disappeared revealing a young wolf demon in brown wolf fur and armor with long black hair pulled into a ponytail and blue eyes. The wolf-boy looked around at the battle field and then looked at Inuyasha.

"You, Why did you slaughter my wolves?" He growled slightly.

"So you're the leader!" Inuyasha said.

"What of it? You killed my wolves! I won't forgive you!" Wolf-boy yelled.

"Shaddup! You reek of human blood! How many have you killed!" I yelled. I was furious that he had used his pack to kill humans. It was unforgivable in my book. He looked at me for a split second before turning back to Inuyasha.

"I hate the smell of dog! It makes my sick to my stomach!" Koga yelled at Inuyasha. A red anger mark appeared on my head and my right eye twitched. 'He did not just ignore me!' I yelled in my head.

"Well then, I'll slit your stomach in two and let some air through!" Inuyasha yelled. He swung his sword at wolf-boy but he dodged easily, "What"

The wolf-boy leaps into the air, twirls into a mini-whirlwind and dives at Inuyasha, who dodges. The wolf-boy then kicks him in the face swiftly. Inuyasha is thrown backwards.

"W-what?" Miroku said, astounded.

"He's fast!" Sango said.

"Inuyasha, watch out! He's using the power of the Sacred Jewel! His right arm and both legs!" Me and Kagome yelled at the same time. Wolf-boy stopped his attack for a split second and looks at us.

"Those women..." He said to himself.

"Damn! Why didn't you say so earlier? That explains why you're acting so cocky! It's just the power of the Sacred Jewel!" Inuyasha said. My eye twitches again.

"Ungrateful dog!" I muttered to myself.

"Hah! Stop whining like a sick dog!" Wolf-boy said.

" You have the Sacred Jewel fragments and that's the limit of your power? What a laugh!" Inuyasha laughed.

"Shut up, Mutt!" Wolf-boy yelled

"Back off, you stray wolf!" Inuyasha shot back

"Both of them are so uncouth." Miroku sighed. We all nodded.

"I'm the young leader of the Demon wolves. Remember the name Koga!" He yelled. Koga leaps at Inuyasha and tries to attack. A fight ensues as the two try to get the better of the other. More wolves appear and surround us.

"They're coming from this side, too! Kirara!" Sango said,Kirara runs towards the wolves. The fur on her back bristles and she transforms into her ferocious form. She roars at them. Upon seeing her, the wolves turn around and run off into the horizon. Shippo laughs and jumps from my shoulder onto Kirara's back.

"They're running with their tails between their legs! Now it's up to Inuyasha!" He says. Inuyasha tries to slash at Koga but he's to fast for him.

"Look at you! You have your hands full just being on the defensive!" Koga teases. Inuyasha growls and faces Koga with a determined look on his face. Koga runs towards Inuyasha, forming a current around him. Inuyasha raised his sword and forms a similar current. The two currents meet. But suddenly Koga jumps away and the two currents disappear.

"this is dangerous! Retreat!" Koga ordered and he and the wolves run off. Inuyasha is stunned by the sudden change of events, standing still with his sword. The rest of us are equally stunned.

"W-what the!" He stuttered

"He ran away!" Sango said in a unbelieving voice.

"He makes up his mind quick." Kagome said.

"He's just some cowardly wolf pup." I sighed shaking my head.

"Inuyasha, were you testing the Wind Scar?" Miroku asked. Inuyasha nodded and sheathed his sword.

"Yeah. But he just ran. He's only talk" Inuyasha scoffed.

"I wonder..." Miroku trailed off.

"What?" I asked.

"That Koga would not know the power of the Tetsusaiga. If he knew instinctively that he was in danger┘" He said.

"So it's not just brute strength we're up against." Sango said.

* * *

This first chapter was made by wolf princess of the moon. I adopted this wonderful story. I also do not own Inuyasha. Bye!


	2. Chapter 2

I looked around at the make shift graves we had dug for all the dead villagers with sadness. I hate unnecessary death, whether it's Human or Demon. Damn, that Koga! Who gives him the right to play God and take the lives of the innocent? I can barely stomach the deaths of someone who deserved what they got! Anyone that can slaughter women and children and look just fine when confronted about it ain't alright in my book! He better hope he never runs into me again because if he does I won't hesitate to attack with all I got! I will avenge these poor souls!

"Well." Miroku says bringing me out of my thoughts. "I think that was the last of them."

"Man, all we seem to be doing lately is burying people. I'm becoming a professional grave-digger except that no ones paying me." My whole body convulses in rage and I grip my make shift shovel a little tighter. Sometimes Inuyasha can be such an insensitive moron!

"I can't believe I got suckered into another good Samaritan act." He continues.

"Watch your mouth you stupid dog!" I grunt bringing my shovel down on my brother's head.

"What the hell was that for Hana?!" Inuyasha growls hands covering the area I hit.

Instead of feeling sorry for hitting him I have the sudden urge to do it again. He really should learn to keep his big mouth shut, maybe he'll seem more intelligent if he does.

"It seems like every-time we travel in the direction, in which Kagome and Himitsu senses a sacred jewel shard .We come across another village that's been completely annihilated." Miroku says bending down in front of one of the boards of wood we used as grave markers. "The battle to claim the sacred jewel shards has brought nothing but tragedy. And countless innocent villagers have lost their lives because of it."

He didn't mean to but he reminded me of my pack, whose lives had also been claimed as a repercussion of the battle for the jewel shards.

I watch as he silently closes his eyes, dips his head and raises one hand so it's in front of his face. He must be praying for them, for all these poor, poor people. You'd think I'd be use to death by now, I've been around it long enough.

"So what?" Inuyasha asks looking over at the praying monk.

"So what? So while I believe it is a worth while venture to take possession of the jewel shards before Naraku or any other demon can. I can not approve of your seeking the shards in order to use their power to become a full fledged demon. That is all I'm saying." He finishes his speech and opens his eyes, done with his prayer.

Although I don't exactly agree with his reasons for wanting to find the sacred shards I do understand them. It's tough being a half demon, you're an out cast no matter where you go. Humans see you as a monstrosity and Demons hate you more than they seem to hate Humans!

"Heh, don't start that up again, you're not winning any points for persistence." Inuyasha says.

"I'm gonna become a full-fledged Demon no matter what anybody says. So don't try to stop me!" Inuyasha growls putting the shovel on his shoulder and stomping off like an angry child.

I watch him go before turning to address Miroku. "You know he gets upset when we mention his reasons for searching for the sacred jewels." I say leaning on one of the markers and crossing my arms.

He doesn't seem to hear me though, he just stares at the ground in deep thought. It probably involves Inuyasha and the jewels. I frown and run off, I need to go talk to one of the girls and get my mind off all this.

* * *

I yawn and propped my self up on the wall of the hut. The excitement of the day had started to take its toll on me and I was feeling pretty exhausted. The warmth of the fire and the peaceful sounds of nature were only making it worse.

"Is something wrong Hana?" Sango asks, momentarily pausing in her tending of the fire to look over at me.

"Not really, I'm just tired." I say, rubbing my eyes trying to stay awake.

"If you say so." She sighs obviously not believing me. But one of the best things about Sango is that she knows how to drop a touch. "But, if you ever need someone to talk to, we're all here for you." She smiles.

"I'll remember that." I say giving her a big, toothy grin.

"We brought more firewood." Shippo announces happily as he comes skipping into the hut carrying two small logs. He is followed by Kagome who is also carrying some wood.

"Thank you, we have plenty of wood for the time being." Sango says standing up and motioning to the spot next to me. "You can put it over there Kagome."

"By the way, have any of you seen Kilala anywhere?" Sango asks resting a loose fist on her chest and glancing left and right for the demon cat.

"Hm, Kilala?" Kagome says. "I saw her walking around outside with Inuyasha earlier this evening."

"With him again?" Sango says. "She's been following him around constantly lately, I wonder why."

"Maybe she's just taken a sudden liking to him." I shrug. "It wouldn't be the weirdest thing to happen ya know."

"Yeah, I guess your right." Sango nods.

"If anything is weird about this it's that Inuyasha hasn't chased her off yet!" Shippo giggles running over to me and sitting on my lap.

I smile down at my young pup and rub his bushy tail affectionately.

"Well now that that's settled whose hungry?" Kagome smiles.

"I am, I am!" Shippo says sticking his hand in the air and waving it frantically.

All of us laugh at how energetic he is before we start to prepare our dinner.

* * *

I tried to hold in my laughter as I watch Inuyasha crawl around on the rocky ground on all fours and sniff. I know why he was doing it, but boy did he look stupid! Kagome must have noticed my odd behavior because she was staring at me with a look clearly asking "whats wrong with you?". I just shook my head at her and covered my mouth as I started to cough in an attempt to cover up my escaping giggles.

"Alright, I've picked up the scent of the wolves. I'll be able to lead us right to them, no problem." Inuyasha announces loud enough for all of us to hear.

"That cocky bastard, I can't believe he called me a mutt." He says this more to himself than anyone else. I was probably the only one that heard him.

I can't believe the thing he was the most angry about was the wolf-boy calling him a mutt. He had just let his wolves ravage a whole village and he was seriously focusing on the fact that he called him a mutt? Sometimes I can't believe I follow this guy!

"I don't blame him for getting upset over being called a mongrel, but when he's sniffing the ground he sure does look like one." Shippo says from the little basket on the front of Kagome's odd contraction. Apparently I _wasn't_ the only one that heard him say that. With this I explode into a hysterical fit of laughter an Inuyasha's expense.

Inuyasha jumps off the ground and spins around pointing an accusing finger at the little fox. "I heard that Shippo! Come here and say that, I dare ya!"

Shippo's eyes widen in comical horror as he jumps out of the basket and behind Kagome for protection.

"Whoa! He can hear me from that distance, what a blood hound. Talk about canine power." Shippo says peaking from behind Kagome.

"He can still hear you." I say wiping the tears of mirth from my eyes.

"Canines are carnivorous, remember that you little runt!" Inuyasha shouts angrily.

"Don't talk to him like that Inuyasha!" Kagome and I shout at the same time.

"Keh, you guys can be really annoying did you know that?" He grumbles.

"Don't make me _sit_ you!" What was supposed to be Kagome warning Inuyasha quickly became a punishment.

I can't help but smile as Inuyasha's face greets its old friend, the ground. "You go Kagome!" I cheer.

"Stupid wench! I didn't even hit him yet!" He shouts in anger as he pulls himself out of the shallow crater his body created.

"If you were planning to I say you deserved it." I say leaning on the rock and smirking at my annoyed brother.

"I swear to god Hana, if you keep talking." Inuyasha growls getting in my face.

"You'll do what?" I challenge.

Whatever he's about to say next in interrupted by Sango, Kilala and Miroku's arrival. Inuyasha quickly turns around to rudely greet them.

"It's about time you guys arrived, can you fly any slower!" He grumbles as they land slightly behind us.

Miroku either ignores or doesn't hear the rude welcome. "Inuyasha! Can you smell or hear anything unusual about this area?"

This was _just_ the wrong thing for Miroku to say after all the dog comments we'd been making.

"Oh, so I'm your faithful terrier all of a sudden. Wondering if I've sniffed out a scent or heard something with my little doggie ears. Damn you guys piss me off, every single one of you!" Why does he always act like such an ass?! It was just a question, god, no need to attack him for it!

Miroku climbs off of Kilala."_Relax_, I'm simply asking is you sense another presence in the air. Like we do."

At that very moment Kilala looks up at the sky growling. What's got her all riled up?

"Look everybody! Up there!" Sango says looking up at the same spot Kilala is.

I do as Sango instructs and groan when I see a pack of wolves running down the mountain's rocky surface heading straight for us. I really should have seen this coming, we're invading their territory. A territory they know, and we don't, they clearly have the upper-hand. Especially since we're on a ledge and not solid ground. If they knock one of us off at the right time we could get seriously hurt, if we don't get impaled by a rock when we land that is.

In the blink of an eye my prediction comes true and the wolves jump on Inuyasha knocking him over the side of the ledge.

"Inuyasha!" I scream in horror as I watch him and the wolves fall over the edge.

I'm about to jump over the side to attempt to help him when I hear yet another scream. It's coming from Miroku and I whip around ready to help only to see him and Sango taking out some wolves. Even though they're probably trying to kill us I still wince each time one gets hit or whimpers in pain.

Despite my torn feelings I leap forward to punch a wolf in the jaw right before it latches itself onto Miroku's back. I just have to remind myself that this isn't my pack, they aren't my responsibility. Kagome, Sango, Miroku, Shippo and Inuyasha _are_, and this time I'm not letting anyone in my pack die!

I hear a rush of wind and Kagome calling to Inuyasha. I look up and into the air and my eyes narrow in anger, it's that Koga guy from before! I throw the wolf I'm struggling with over the ledge and run as fast as I can to get to her before the bastard can!

I reach her just in time and tackle her out-of-the-way before he lands on her. Unfortunately while we're rolling out of the way of our attacker I hit my head on one of the larger rocks. Leaving me dazed and no longer able to protect Kagome and Shippo effectively, whose clinging on to Kagome's arm. The wolf sees his chance and pounces, throwing Kagome over one shoulder and me on the other.

I hear Miroku shout our names and turn my head "Sango, Miroku **help**!".

In what seems like just seconds I can no longer see my friends. I growl and begin to hit our kidnapper upside his stupid head.

"Let us go you arrogant son of a bitch!" I scream into his ear while I yank at his ponytail.

I only paused in my violent assault when I saw where he was heading. He was heading right towards the edge of a cliff. He isn't going to try to jump it, is he? That's way to far for anyone to jump, even a demon! He might be an evil Human killer but I doubt he's crazy enough to risk his life trying to jump that distance. But he still hasn't slowed down, oh god he's actually gonna try to do it! Of all the people we had to get kidnapped by it had to be a suicidal psychopath!

"W-what are you doing?" Kagome stuttered, I could smell her fear and it only terrified me more!

Right after the words left her mouth he jumped off the edge. I'm too young to die! I haven't done anything with my life! I haven't gotten a mate, I haven't had pups, I've barely explored the world! Goodbye cruel world.

"This cliff is nothing to me, I got sacred Jewel shards in my legs." Koga boasted.

His arrogance is gonna get us all killed! The sacred jewels can only do so much. I can feel and see myself plummeting towards the water below. Would I survive such a drop? Maybe, but Kagome sure couldn't and even though Shippo is a demon he's just a kit. He could still die. I've gotten out of some tough spots in my life but this? Koga's hold was to strong, he was using the arm with the jewel shard to hold me. I wasn't doing anything but annoying him with my thrashing.

All I could hear was the sounds of our joint screams (minus Koga) and the wind.

"Your never gonna reach it." Kagome screamed.

"You freaking psychopath!" I screamed closing my eyes.

I only opened my eyes when I felt us hit something. Koga had placed his feet in a way that when we hit the side of the rock they actually dug in, effectively slowing us down. This caused me to hit his back when we came to our sudden stop. I immediately wrapped the arm that wasn't pinned by him holding me, around him, out of fear that I would fall.

"Oh my god, we're gonna fall!" I shrieked grip tightening when I glanced below us.

"Somebody help us!" Kagome screamed at the same time.

"Ahhhhhhh!" We all screamed in union.

"Will you shut up and stop screaming!" Koga growls at us before starting to jump up from rock to rock moving towards the top half of this side of the cliff.

"I can scream if I want too!" Kagome yells.

As we get closer and closer to the top I feel myself becoming more and more scared. Why did he kidnap us? And since Kagome is Human and he eats Humans would he... NO! Over my dead body! When Inuyasha isn't around it's _my _job to protect Kagome. And I'll protect her with everything I've got. But, I don't think I've got what it takes to fight off a whole wolf pack. Oh Inuyasha, I hope you find us soon.


	3. Chapter 3

I glance around Koga's head to peak at Kagome when I smell her scent become once again tainted with the bitter smell of fear. I'm confused until I hear the flapping of large wings and a new and unfamiliar scent. I take a deep breath, preparing myself for the worst and slowly look up. Whoa w-what the hell are those things?! They look like giant, evil, bird creature! And there isn't just one, it looks like a whole damn flock of whatever they are! Right when you think the day can't get any worse!

"What are those things?" Kagome asks, staring up at the sky with wide eyes.

"They're not canaries, I can tell you that much. And I bet they want dinner." Kidnapped and eaten all in one day, I have the best of luck. When I imagined the way it was gonna end I always thought It'd be while fighting Naraku not by getting pecked to death by some giant birds.

"See if any of them have a jewel shard. Can you tell?" Huh, how does he know that we can sense the shards?

**"Inuyasha, watch out! He's using the power of the Sacred Jewel! His right arm and both legs!"Me and Kagome yelled at the same time. Wolf-boy stopped his attack for a split second and looks at us.**

Oh, right, that. Wait a second! Is that why he kidnapped us? So he could get more shards? Greedy bastard, he probably wants them so he can become even more powerful, then he'll be able to slaughter even more villages. Oh I can't _wait_ till Inuyasha gets here, we'll give this guy the worst beating in history. And that's a promise!

"Huh?" Kagome asks sounding a bit confused.

"I know you two have the power to see jewel shards. Do any of those birds have any?" Koga asked.

"No, I don't think so. I don't see any from here anyway." Kagome said shaking her head.

"Take a good look. Not even the ones by the cliff?" He asked.

Okay, this is getting annoying.

"None of these damn birds have jewel shards! Can we move on now?!" I snap.

His eyes are narrowed as his head swerves to look at me. Instead of shrinking away from his glare I match it with one of my own. His so-called "glare" was almost pathetic in comparison to Inuyasha's and I could hardly resist the urge to laugh in his face as we continued to stare each other down. It's a little boring and I want to look away but that would be admitting defeat. And I've already lost to this freak once today, I won't lose again.

My patience pays off when he looks away lip curling up into a snarl. _"Fine,_ then I've got no use for them." My little victory doesn't last long because a second later I'm clinging onto him and trying not to throw up my breakfast.

"See ya later buzzard brains, we're outta here!"

* * *

I groan as we come to another abrupt stop. One more jolt like that and I'm not gonna be able to control what comes outta my mouth. I just hope that most of it lands on this bastard. I hear Kagome say something but my brain can't seem to make out the words. The only thing on my mind now was sleep. I know, I know how could I think of sleeping at a time like this? I had just been captured by someone who let his wolves ravage a village without second thought. I should be more than awake right now. My body should be pumping adrenaline non stop and keeping me alert so I can escape with my friends in a moments notice. But it's just not in me today.

I've barely slept at all these last two nights, I've been to worked up and angry about finding Koga and bringing him to justice to rest. I guess it's finally caught up to me. **Gah,** I should've been keeping my body in top condition. I saw how strong he was when he was fighting Inuyasha. If I hadn't let my anger get the better of me I could've rested, and then I might've been able to prevent our capture. Stupid, stupid, stupid, stupid, stupid, stu- wait is that? I take another small sniff to confirm it, yep, there it is, clear as day, the smell of wolf demon.

I would usually be comforted by that smell, but considering the circumstances I felt a stab of fear and panic shoot through my very being. There was no chance of escape now, not even if Inuyasha found us. He wouldn't be able to win a fight against them, against a whole pack of wolf demons. Heh, I guess this is it then, I'm not going to be able to avenge my pack after-all...

No, don't think like that damn it! There's always a way out, a way to win! And why am I thinking as if Inuyasha is our only hope of escape? I am Himitsu Hana! One of the best damn warriors the eastern tribe had. I've gotten myself out of fixes like this before, I've gotten out of them thousands of time! Sure I've lost before, but I've also won. And sure I ain't the strongest and now I know I'm not the fastest. But I've got a brain, I'm sure I can out think them.

And at the very least I'm getting Kagome out of here. At least one of us has to survive this. We still have to find all the shards before Naraku does.

My renewed confidence dies when I look up and see just how many wolves there are.

_Shit._

With that I let my body go completely limp with depression and exhaustion. What am I gonna do?!

* * *

Sorry it's short, I wanted to get something updated this week. It was longer but my computer is having issues so it kept deleting it. Eventually I lost my patience and that's why it's so short and not, good. Also the reason it took longer to update. But, **but** at least it didn't take me half a year to update this time, right? *dodges flying objects* It's not my fault! Review if you want and don't if you don't. I'm off to think of ideas for the next chapter!


	4. Chapter 4

My legs are shaking so bad I'm surprised I can walk at all when Koga finally sets me on my own two legs. In fact, I doubt I'd be standing if it wasn't for the death grip he had on my arm. I was know doubt gonna have a nasty bruise later on... He must think I'm gonna try to bolt as soon as he lets me go. If I had the energy and I was alone I might, but Kagome and Shippo are here and Its a battle just keeping my eyes open. It'd be a really stupid move on my part. And I don't mean regular stupid, I mean Inuyasha stupid!

Despite how tired I am I lift my head and look from side to side, quickly observing my new surroundings. I don't intend on staying very long, so I need to learn as much as I can as fast as I can. Even knowing just a bit about this place could help us in the long run. And as much as I don't want to admit it, it feels good to be back in a wolf den. Even if this den's floor is scattered in the bones of both Humans and animals, and not just the latter. Still, I haven't seen the inside of wolf den in so long.

Oh god, don't cry now. You all ready seem weak enough as it is, crying will only make it worse. Get a hold of yourself Hana, you're in control of your emotions not the other way around! Besides Kagome is already terrified if you start crying who knows what she'll do! In that instant I switch on a blank face and muster up the last remains of energy in my body to stand up straight and hold my head high. I'm not a weakling I'm a warrior.

I keep repeating this in my head as I meet the eyes of all the demons we pass.

"Hey Koga, who's the woman?" My head snaps in the direction of the man who said it. I don't care which one of us he was referring to, I just wanted to clock him. My heels dug into the ground as my hands balled into fists and my anger got the better of me. But Koga was still holding me with the arm that contained the shard so I was fighting a losing battle and just ended up being dragged.

This only pissed me off more because I felt so powerless and small. The last time I'd felt like this was when I was forced to watch my whole pack die and there was nothing I could do about it. God I hate being around other wolves, it brings back memories, all of which are bad and tainted with grieve.

I need to stay focused on the dangers of the present, not the problems of the past. Focus Hana, focus.

When I drifted back into reality it was to be roughly thrown into a bed of straw. All though it was a soft thing to land on it still hurt my head considering all the trauma I'd been through today. _And_ I had been thrown straight onto my face which hurt no matter how soft the landing pad was._ Inconsiderate ass._

I pulled my face from the straw and opened my eyes to be faced with the back of the cave which served as a wall. I slowly got on my hands and knees and turned around. What I saw was Kagome being stared at hungrily by a bunch of moronic demons. A soft growl escaped me as I heard some of the comments directed her way.

"Nice looking prey Koga, can I have one of the legs?" One asked.

"I claim first dibs on the liver." Said another.

My urge to protect over-powered my fatigue, and with a burst of energy I had grabbed Kagome, pushed us as far back against the cave wall as we could go and had an arm wrapped around her shoulder in a protective/comforting gesture. I dare one of them to even _try_ to eat my little sister! I dare you ya' disgusting bastards! They'll be begging for death by the time I'm done toying with them.

Kagome's arms wrapped around my waist as she shrunk into my side. She's protected me tons of times, I'm just returning the favor.

"That woman is off-limits, I'll kill any one that tries to take a bite." Koga snapped at his underlings who immediately cowered away from him. They probably weren't expecting that from him. He must let them eat Humans all the freaking time, I bet the only reason he's saying that is because he's using us a jewel detectors! I wonder what would happen if we couldn't sense shards...

I doubt they'd eat _me,_ but they'd probably kill me. But I'm female so they'd do that after they've had some fun with me. I've seen what happens to intruders of wolf territory and it ain't pretty. Sometimes I'm ashamed to call myself a demon.

I felt Kagome relax against me a bit and looked down at her watching as her expressions changed. I guess she had finally pieced together why he'd captured us.

Three wolves walked up behind Koga and began to sniff the area around his tail. Koga turned and looked down at three for a second before grabbing his tail and pulling it upwards.

"Oh yeah him." I gasped when I saw Shippo clinging onto Koga's tail for dear life and groaning. I thought he was still holding onto Kags but I guess not. And I thought I had a bumpy ride, poor Shippo. "I forgot he grabbed onto my tail when I captured the girls. I assumed he fell off."

"Guess not, here have an appetizer." Koga said throwing Shippo onto the floor... and into a circle of hungry wolves!

"Uh oh, HANA, KAGOME! HEEEEELP!" Shippo screamed.

I stumbled to my feet and in half a second was in the face of Koga. "HEY!"

"What?" He grunted glancing away from his wolves to look at me.

"That's _our_ kit your trying to feed to your wolves. You need our help finding jewel shards don't you? Well, if he gets eaten we won't help you!"

"No matter WHAT you put us through!" Kagome said coming to my side and backing me up.

I was a little surprised when instead of shrugging us off he chuckled. "Well well, you got more guts than I thought."

I watched intensely as he walked towards the group of wolves surrounding my son. W- was he actually gonna save him?! I thought I'd have to fight him! Well, it looks like I've finally caught a break today!

"Get outta the way." Koga said lifting one up. "Whoa, you guys packed on a bunch of weight again you bunch of gluttons. Your not eating anything more for the next couple of days." He said as the wolf jumped out of his arms and off to the side.

A second later Shippo was thrown into my open arms. "There you go."

I couldn't help but cradle him to my chest as if he were a baby as I sighed, happy to have him back in my arms where I could protect him. I opened my mouth to thank Koga before I remembered he was the one who threw him there to be eaten in the first place. _Bastard_! But still, he could've let him get eaten. So I guess he's not totally heart-less... WHAT AM I THINKING?! This is all apart of his plan to collect the shards, it's easier to keep a willing hostage.

"Hana!" Shippo cried in relief as he clung to me. He then looked over to Kagome and jumped into her arms. "KAGOME!"

Despite the situation we were in I let out a little giggle. If anyone can cheer me up it's Shippo. Sometimes I don't know what I'd do without him! The moment of joy is interrupted by someone screaming.

"Move." Who ever it was he was commanding somebody. "MOVE, get outta the way, we've got injured."

"What happened out there? Get em some water, come on hurry up!" Said the same voice.

Must've been an accident or battle. Maybe it has something to do with those evil bird things? They didn't seem to friendly. Before I can stop myself I'm following Koga who has gone to check out the commotion. I stop when I see Kagome isn't following me, I ain't leaving her anywhere alone while we're here. I grab her hand before gently pulling her through the forming crowd.

I break through the crowd just in time to hear Koga say something like "was it them?". Was it who?

The person on his right answers. "Yeah, they attacked hard, during the changing of the mid day watch."

I wanted to ask who they were talking about but I decided to keep my mouth shut. It's not really any of my business. Besides I was preoccupied with staring down at the injured men. The healer in me wanted to drop to my knees and help him. But if I showed them my other unique abilities I'll never get outta here! Besides if I try to heal anybody in my state I'll do nothing but faint. Still though, I really want to help. My free hand starts to twitch by my side and my eyebrows furrow.

"Only these two managed to escape. The others fell off the cliff to their death or were carried away." The un-named man continued.

"Such horrible wounds." Kagome mumbles also staring down at the men. She hates seeing people hurt almost as much as I do.

"What creatures could do such a thing?" I ask turning away from them man to look at Koga.

"You saw them earlier, they call themselves "The Birds Of Paradise". But there are arch enemies and this is definitely they're doing. Their brutal demons and we've lost many too them. They swoop down silently and capture our comrades with their sharp powerful claws." As he talked he walked back towards the straw bed we had been thrown on earlier.

"Then what do they do?" Kagome asked.

"They eat them, we've come across their nests before and have found them littered with hundreds of wolf bones. "He says sitting down cross-legged.

Even though I'm a prisoner and not apart of the pack my stomach flips thinking of the death of these wolves. Why do I always seem to run into death?

"And you can't beat them?" I ask confused, he has three shards! He should be able to defend his pack against some birds! Unless... maybe some of the birds have shards. Yes, that must be it!

"That's just it, one of the "Birds Of Paradise" possesses a sacred jewel shard. And now he's even faster than we are." I'm figuring everything out today aren't I?

"A few weeks ago he killed 50 of our wolves in one foul swoop. It's gotta be the power of the sacred jewel. At this rate I'm afraid our pack will be wiped out completely!"

I barely manage to stop myself from screaming when he says this. Its seems all the wolf packs have fallen on hard times.

"We need to restore the balance of power somehow." He says finally looking up towards Kagome and I.

"So your pack is in danger and that's why you want us to find which "Bird Of Paradise has the shard." Kagome says.

"You'll scout out the bird with the shard, then we'll attack its nest and steal it from him." Koga says.

That doesn't sound like a very good plan. Even if it is a surprise attack the bird still has a shard and he's already killed so many of his wolves! You'd think he'd take the time to think of a safer plan so no one else has to die!

"Otherwise the fighting between us will drag on and lives will continue to be sacrificed senselessly." Koga says.

"So, you guys gonna help us out or what?" He asks eyes zoning in on me for some reason. Maybe because I'm a wolf too?

I don't think we have a choice, but if I did I'd help anyway. I hate to see Humans dying and in a way I hate these wolves because that's what they feed on. But a part of me hates to see wolves dying more. I look over at Kagome whose already looking at me. Just the look in her eyes and face gives me our answer.

"Yes, we'll help you."

* * *

In the middle of the night I was suddenly hit upside the head with inspiration. And you know how it feels when that happens, you just gotta get up and write something! I uploaded a small part of this chapter onto fanfiction and finished it here. Hence why you have a long chapter in a short period of time. I'm such a genius *happy dances*. Go me, go me, I'm awesome go me. Got tons of inspiration today. So expect another chapter soon *blow kisses*. See ya then!


	5. Chapter 5

I sat on the bed of hay picking up random pieces of the straw and throwing them over my shoulder. It was my rather pathetic attempt at trying to occupy my body. I was going nuts just sitting here, not moving, not burning off any energy. My body had become use to constant movement ever since I started traveling with Inuyasha and the others. If we weren't walking around trying to find a jewel shard we were being attacked by some wandering demon or Naraku and his minions. My body wasn't very use to, oh, what's the word. I'd hardly call this resting since I'm surrounded by enemies that want to eat and hurt members of my pack.

No, I was just sitting still and watching, waiting, observing, looking for any window of opportunity.

"Stand up." I jumped a bit and looked up and too my left to see Koga standing right next to Kagome.

But then I saw a bushy tail and realized it was Shippo using his fox magic. I could do nothing but stare up at him in shock. What's he doing?! He could get us all in serious trouble! But then again, I wasn't coming up with anything better. We might as well give whatever crazy plan the kit has got a shot!

"Please guys, don't make it look suspicious, alright." He mumbled quiet enough for only us to hear.

I instantly jumped onto my feet and tried to look a bit nervous, it wasn't very hard. Kagome got to her feet a second later. Once we were both on our feet "Koga" grabbed each of us by the arms and began leading us through the cave. I was hyper-sensitive to all the stares we we're getting. It felt as if every set of eyes was glued to us. But still no one said anything the only sounds were of the waterfall and our footsteps. At least until.

"Koga, where are you going with the women?" One with a scar over his left eye piped up.

"The women need some fresh air. This place stinks, and I don't think it's the wolves." It took every bit of will power I had not to giggle at that one.

And with that Shippo just kept walking. At this point we we're just a couple of footsteps from the waterfall. I felt brewing up inside me and actually thought we we're gonna make it, but that dream was put to a bitter end when Shippo cried out in pain and turned back into his true form. In an instant the other wolf demons had raised their spears and other various weapons in our direction and started advancing. I gulped and let out a nervous chuckle.

Suddenly Kagome picked up one of the spears and held it out in front of herself defensively. "Shippo, HURRY!" she exclaimed before snatching him up by the arm and running through the waterfall and I quickly followed suit.

I knew there was no hope of escaping if we went at her fastest human pace so when I got close enough I threw her on my back and took off running as fast I could go. Kagome's weight barely slowed me down at all now that I have all my strength back! I noticed with horror that we we're running towards a cliff edge. It was a dead-end! My run started to falter as I grew hesitant and finally came to an abrupt stop right before I ran off the cliff.

I set Kagome and Shippo on their feet and peered over the side trying to decide if I could climb down while carrying Kagome and Shippo. I let out a growl when realizing I wouldn't be able to, we we're totally trapped.

"Sorry guys, looks like we're trapped." I mumbled.

The wolf demons had finally caught up to us and we're now standing right in front of us. Trapping us between the cliff and them. We would have no choice but to fight. And Kagome was pretty much useless without her bow. And Shippo's fox magic could do very little damage. So it looks like it's up to me to protect my family!

"Shippo, you can expand your body and fly can't you?" Kagome asked.

"Yes, but I don't think I can fly you and Hana, Kagome." Shippo answered.

I instantly got where she was going with this so I wasn't surprised when she grabbed his hand and flung him over the side of the cliff.

"You are not getting away!" One of the wolf demons said as he swung a chain after Shippo. But I was having none of that and gave the chain one clean swipe from my claw making it fall to the ground in two useless halves. If I can't save myself or kagome I'm at least saving my child!

"Conniving witch, I'll devour you alive." Said the same scarred guy from earlier.

It was on pure instinct that I took a step forward, pushed Kagome behind me, bared my fangs and started growling. All my weapons had been taken from me shortly after Koga took us. But I still have my claws, my speed and my strength! With these gifts I'll protect Kagome with my life. But I didn't even get the chance before a dead boar came out of nowhere and landed on top of him knocking him flat on the ground.

"Hey! What did I say about eating the human? I warned you." Koga announced from where he stood on a higher up ledge. He must have been the one to throw that boar.

The one that was trying to get the huge boar off the other demon looked up. "Koga!"

"Koga, the little guy is flying, he's over there." Said the one left of Koga as he pointed in Shippo's direction.

"Let me go after him Koga. It's the least I could do after letting him escape." Said the same demon from earlier as he helped the scarred one to his feet.

My lip instantly curled up into a snarl and I stepped forward ready to attack when Kagome grabbed my arm and shook her head at me. We had an intense stare off for a second before I relented. I'd probably be making the situation worse if I killed someone. So instead I just crossed my arms and scowled at him.

"I don't want to die, please." The scarred one begged.

Hmp, how pitiful, a opponent like that wouldn't be worthy of my time!

As those two started to walk away I re-focused my attention on Koga, who at that very moment jumped down from his perch on the ledge and landed in front of me. I almost stumbled back but then I reminded myself that I'm not afraid of him alone. I've taken on worse, I've taken on much worse. It's him, _plus_ his pack I'm afraid of.

So instead of flinching away from him I stood up as straight as I could and looked him right in the eyes. I was gonna show him I'm not one to be intimidated. The words that came out of his mouth next we're **not** something I expected.

"I'm gonna make you my woman." Suddenly I didn't feel so brave, and I flinched back from him like he'd just struck me as hard as he possibly could.

If I was gonna be anyone's woman I sure as hell wouldn't be his! He's a murderer, he doesn't respect Human life, he's manipulative, he's arrogant and he kidnapped me, my pup and my sister! He's not as bad as Naraku but he's pretty high up on my "**Guy's I hate and will one day kill list**". I'd say he's right _after_ Naraku. And he wants me to be his mate?! Nope, uh uh, not gonna happen, not in a million years! My whole body convulsed in disgust as I thought of being mated to _him_. I'd rather be skinned alive or something equally as painful. As long as it had nothing to do with _Koga_.

"Hey Koga, I thought you were gonna kill her when you were done with her, not marry her." One of his wolves said.

I glanced over to see Kagome's reaction to all this and she looked just as if not more disgusted and horrified as I do!

"You don't want her, she can barely defend herself." My eye-twitched at that.

Is that what they think? Because if it is then I need to give them a crash course in what I'm _really_ capable of. Just because I was tired doesn't mean I'm weak. I'm one of the strongest there is! I'm just not enough of a brain dead, moron to try to take on a whole pack of wolves! Steam was practically coming out of my ears at this point.

"Idiots, this woman can see the sacred jewel. "The Birds Of Paradise" aren't the only one with a shard you know." He said raising his arms. "With her ability we'll be able to gather all the sacred jewel shards in the region." He couldn't just stop at wanting to defeat one of his tribe's enemies, _could he_?

"That would make us incredibly powerful."

"Our pack would be unstoppable!"

Koga took a step toward me and I would've taken a step back but I was kind of at the edge of the cliff. "That's the idea, yeah. So you see she's way more powerful than some trained female demon."

Okay, I'm getting sick of this shit. I'm an amazing warrior, I was just tired dammit! Stop talking about me as if I'm weak. And didn't he see all my weapons?! Those aren't just to intimidate ya know! If I had enough energy right now I'd show them all my power. Then they'd see just how strong _and_ terrifying I can be. Oh, I can't wait till I'm fully re-charged. Then they will pay _dearly_ for their insolence.

"Your name is Hana, right?" Koga asked wrapping an arm around my waist and pulling me closer to him. I almost wanted to whimper. "Wolves, mate for life, so your mine now." What does he think I am? A stray that knows nothing about her culture, her heritage?! Of course I know wolves mate for li- wait, WHAT?!

His voice took on a more dangerous tone as he continued, like he was warning me. "Got that?"

I think that was my breaking point and before I could stop myself I did something incredibly reckless.

"GET YOUR DIRTY HANDS OFF ME YOU ARROGANT MONSTER! I DON'T BELONG TO ANYONE AND I CERTAINLY DON'T BELONG TO THE LIKES OF YOU!" I was so angry my hand couldn't even form a fist to punch him before it connected with his face. So it was really just an extremely hard slap.

I was panting and glaring at the ground before I realized what I'd just done and I let out a small noise between a groan and a whimper before looking up to see his reaction. He looked shocked, he looked completely and utterly shocked, there was no other emotion on his face, just shock. Shock and an angry red hand mark on his cheek.

His pack reacted before he did.

"That chick just slapped Koga!"

"Honeymoons over, she's dead now."

And with that they began to slowly move away from us. They probably wanted to avoid getting hit in the head with one of my stray body parts as Koga ripped me limb from limb. But... he still showed no anger. WHAT THE HELL?! It was his silence that gave me the confidence to continue. It's not like I'd ever get the chance to talk again, since he'd surely rip out my tongue. Might as well get it all off my chest while I still had the ability to do so.

"You killed an entire village, you ambushed my pack, you kidnapped me, my sister and my pup. You hold us captive to be your little jewel detectors and then you also have the audacity to try to _claim_ me as your mate. I- I can't even, what is WRONG with you?!" I had got louder and louder throughout my little speech so by the end I was screaming at the top of my lungs.

My chest was heaving up and down by the end of my speech. And when I looked back at Koga there was a bit of anger on his face. Or maybe it was annoyance. Who cares, I'm dead either way!

"Are you done?" He grunted.

"I suppose." I sniffed placing a hand on my hip and glaring at him.

His own glare melted away and he started to smirk at me. "You've got guts, I like that. But I suggest you don't do anything like that again. It could have some _very_ negative consequences." When he said this his eyes trailed over to Kagome.

He, he was threatening me by using Kagome! That's about as low as he could go. Then I realize he's still staring at me so I look back at him. By his expression I could tell he was waiting for me to acknowledge what he'd said. So I give him a stiff nod before walking over to Kagome and placing a protective arm around her shoulders. Silently wondering if we we're ever going to get away from Koga.


	6. Chapter 6

_"Soooo_, Kagome, how's your family doing?" I ask breaking the tense silence that had loomed over us since we got back to the den.

"What?" Kagome asks looking up.

"How's your family doing?" I repeat the question.

"Uh, they're doing good." She drags her answer out obviously confused about why I'd ask such a random question.

"I'm just trying to get our minds off things." I sigh.

"Oh, okay than." She mumbles.

And with that we're back to awkward silence. I'm going to lose my mind if this keeps up. I get out of my laying position and look around for something interesting to do. But other than wolves, bones and rocks, there isn't much to see... Being in a den is a lot more fun when you're apart of a pack and not the it's prisoner. I'm just not meant to take it slow, going slow is very, very boring. And I can't _stand it_ when things get boring.

But, I probably shouldn't want things to get interesting, because interesting is usually code for fighting. And if I fight anybody I just know it's gonna be Koga. Ohhh just his name is enough to get me all riled up and ready to kill something! That smirk of his makes me wanna sink my teeth into his flesh and rip his throat out. Oh if I get the chance I swear I'll-

"You'll what?" I tense and glance behind me to see Koga leaning against the wall eyebrow-raised in question, staring at me.

"Huh?"

"You'll what?" He asks pushing himself off the wall and moving closer.

"I have no idea what you're talking about." I frown.

"You forgot that quick? "That smirk of his makes me wanna sink my teeth into his flesh and rip his throat out. Oh if I get the chance I swear I'll-". I wanna know what you'd do?"

_Oh_,_ crap_, I was thinking out loud again! Why do I keep doing that?! My Father always told me that my sharp tongue was going to be my downfall. I've never wanted to admit it before but he was right. I'm always getting into trouble over my mouth. It just hasn't killed me yet. But I'm sure it will, eventually.

"I wasn't talking about you if that's what you're thinking." I huff, turning my back to him and crossing my arms.

Deny, deny, deny. Even if they know you're lying deny, deny, deny.

"Sure you weren't." He says, his voice just oozes with arrogance. I hate him, I hate him, I hate him, I hate him, I hate him, I hate him, I HATE HIM!

"Do you have a reason for coming over here and bothering me?!" ...What am I **doing**?! I need to pull it together. Disrespecting a wolf leader in their own den can only lead to trouble. I need to start playing this thing smart.

He's stronger than me, he's faster than me, I know these two things to be fact. I'm a good warrior but I've always been more of a healer, in training and spirit.

I can aid in battle and help with the clean-up afterwards, but the fact of the matter is that I'm more useful when I'm healing someone then when I'm fighting someone.

My pack shielded me from any _real_ danger because I was one of the few healers we had. They couldn't afford to lose me. Besides that, my special gift is healing the wounded. So I was never seen as a real warrior. An important part of the pack, but certainly not a warrior. Although part of their view of me might have been my fault, I never had a real drive to better myself when it came to my fighting abilities.

They trained me, but they never expected me to be thrown into, or needed, in a real battle, so it was never very serious training. If it was necessary for the women to fight I'd stay behind, watch the cubs, and await their return so I could do my real job, healing.

My first brushes with serious danger started when Naraku destroyed my pack. I haven't had as much experience at fighting demons, or anyone for that matter, as my friends do. Sometimes I have to wonder if I've fought more demons than Kagome!

The reason I'm so deadly now is because of watching battles and observing how people moved themselves and their swords. But you can't learn everything by just watching. So I had Inuyasha teach me.

He's not the most pleasant or patient of teachers and he's **definitely** not the best swordsman out there. But he's helped me improve, helped me to become less of a burden and more of an aid. Which I will forever be grateful for.

But I could only learn so much from him to. As I've said, he's not the best, he's sloppy and lacks technique and real training. My battle with him was the first time I'd ever fought someone outside of training and I still had him on the defense!

So after about four months of traveling with my friends I went off in search of a sensei to train me in the ways of the sword and martial arts. I found one in two wandering cat demons named Shinya, and his older brother, Kurai.

Kurai taught me how to use swords and Shinya taught me many forms of martial arts.

I traveled with them for nearly three months, learning as much as I could so I could become as strong as I could. But as we we're traveling with each other I smelt the blood of my friends and the disgusting scent of Naraku. I rushed off to help them and my new friends followed me, confused by my sudden change in mood.

Until they caught up to me and I reminded them of the man who killed my pack. They quickly joined me in my quest to save my friends and help slay him. We arrived just in time, if we had been just one second late they'd probably be dead.

During the battle that ensued Kurai lost his life. I could do nothing to help my sensei by the time we had gotten to him. His wounds had been too severe, it was a miracle he was still alive at all. The reason he was alive was because he was waiting for Shinya and I.

He told Shinya how much he loved him then gave me his Katana "Kurosu" and "Asuma". Asuma is an enchanted sword from another land that he had been given as payment for helping a lord. With his last breath he told me to use them to avenge him and my pack. And with that, my teacher died, all because I was too weak to save him.

This, is one of the reasons I have to get out of here. I can't die until I've honored my promises to avenge my fallen loved ones! I've never broken a promise before and I don't intend on starting now!

I don't care what I have to do at this point, I just want to find the rest of the shards and kill Naraku! Like I promised my pack and like I promised my sensei!

I need to start really playing along with this. Being less difficult and more agreeable. Not going along with the "his woman" thing, but still more agreeable. Maybe if I do that I can get him to loosen the reigns just a little and escape! It's not the best of plans but it's the only one I have so that's the one I'm doing!

Besides, escape isn't the only thing banking on my attitude. Koga has already made it quite clear that he's okay with hurting Kagome to make me behave.

It makes me wonder if the only reason he took us both was for extra security. Like if one of us died or had to be used to teach the other a lesson he'd still have one left. After all, why would he _really_ need two jewel detector?

Yet another thing to add to the ever-growing list of reasons why I hate his filthy guts.

"That was awfully rude of you Hana." He frowns and glances over at Kagome.

I look down at the ground thoroughly disgusted with myself as I mumble a quiet apology. Do I want to apologize to a murderer? No, that's never been on my to-do-list but I've gotta do what I've gotta do to keep the people I care for safe. And I suppose what I have to do could be a lot worse than saying sorry.

He says nothing but his lips turn upward into a sinister smile that gives me goosebumps before he turns around and starts to walk away.

"WAIT!" I grab onto his shoulder to stop him from going any further.

"Yes?" He turns back around to face me.

"Those men from earlier, the ones that were attacked by the birds of paradise. Are they okay?"

I really was concerned for them despite the fact that they're my enemies. After all, those two men had not _personally_ done anything to harm me or my friends. I had never even met them before! They were injured, I was a healer, therefore it's my job to heal them. I'm sure they'd done plenty of evil things, but when they were attacked and hurt they were doing nothing but protecting their land.

Koga studies me carefully before he answers. "One is, but the other isn't."

"Is it serious?"

From the grim expression on his face I assume it is.

"Take me to him please."

"And why would I do that?" He grunts.

"Because I'm a healer. Now, we can stand here asking each other twenty questions or you could show me where the injured man is like I asked you to. Either way I could careless." I shrug.

"Fine then, follow me." As he starts to walk away I turn to Kagome and motion for her to get up and follow.

"I think I'll stay here and rest." She mumbles.

"But Kagome-"

"I don't think anyone is going to be stupid enough to try anything after what just happened." She cuts me off.

Before I can answer Koga yells at me to hurry up. I take a moment to glare at his retreating back before turning back to Kagome.

"I'll be back really soon, okay?"

"Okay, now go." She smiles.

"BE RIGHT BACK!" I yell as I run to catch up to him.

* * *

"How awful." I mutter.

I knew it was gonna be bad but, _man._ This was really bad. The gash wasn't very deep but it was long. It ran all the way from the man's shoulder to his stomach.

The reason his condition is so serious isn't because of the actual wound. He's a demon and this would normally heal back up in a couple of days. It wasn't even the large amount of blood he's lost. It was the fact that it was infected that made this wound so dangerous. The skin around the wound had turned a dark orange. This lead me to believe that the bird that attacked him had poison on its claws.

As to what kind of poison I have no idea. Which means I can't make a cure. And with all that poison in him I can't just sew the wound back up! And the longer it's not sewed up the bigger the chance it has of getting infected. And infection plus poison equals death, no if, and or but's about it. All I can really do is prop him up against the wall so the poison doesn't spread to his heart as fast.

Or that's all I can do without using my special gift. But, I couldn't possibly do that, not even to save this man's life. If I did heal him I would never be able to escape this place. I am already a prisoner because of one of my 'gifts'. If Koga finds out about my healing abilities forget killing Naraku.

I'll never feel the warmth of sunlight on my skin or the wind blowing through my hair as I run across the country side as fast as I can go. I'll never again experience the thrill of battle, the thrill of the hunt. The relaxing feeling of sinking into a hot spring after a long day of fighting demons, bickering with my friends and looking for shards. All I'll ever do is sit on that cursed bed of hay and wait for Koga to bring me someone else to heal.

I know what people do when find out about my gift. They use me and they try to keep me captive. Koga is already keeping me captive and with the discovery of my other gift it would only get worse.

So no, I can not heal the man that lies in front of me slowly dying because I will not give up my freedom for his life. I have made no promises to save him but I have made promises to others. Promises I shall honor, even at the cost of this man's life. No matter how much it hurts me to do so.

His breathing seems to become more labored with every second that passes and I can tell right off the bat that he has only a few more hours to live. If he has that at all. The poison is spreading at a rapid and irregular pace. He might have days of painful suffering left and he might have measly minutes.

With a heavy heart I begin to wrap him in bandages. He had already been bandaged up but when I'd gotten here, which was nearly an hour ago, the bandages were soaked with blood and had traces of the poison on them, so I took them off.

Once I'm done with that I push some of his Auburn hair out of his forehead so I can dab at it with a damp cloth. Touching his bare-skin felt something like placing your hands too close to a cooking fire.

This only helped to depress me further.

The man's eye that wasn't injured and covered in bandages slowly opened to look at me.

"Hello." I mumble, still half focused on my work.

"...Hi."

"Are you in any pain?" I pick up the bowl of clean water and bring it up to his lips.

After he takes a couple of gulps he shakes his head no.

"Good, that means the herbs are working. Since they're working you're going to be extra thirsty for a while." I try my best to sound happy but I can't.

He doesn't say anything he just closes his eye and licks his cracked lips.

After our brief conversation I start to re-wrap and tend to the other far-less serious injuries he has. It's not until after I'm done does he speak again. And although the silence had been a bit unnerving I wish it had stuck because the question he asks is just too horrible.

"Am I going to die?"

Yes, and it will be partially my fault. And I'm sorry for that. Would you forgive me if you knew that I was letting this happen? I'd like to think so, but no one is truly that forgiving. But maybe if you knew _why,_ you'd understand. Maybe if you knew it was for my fallen pack and slain teacher, maybe then you would understand? Maybe then you could forgive me for choosing not to heal you, to save you, to let you die? Or maybe you wouldn't. Either way I'll never know. When you die all you will know is that I tried to save you but was unable to. You will not know that I could have saved you but I decided not to. And maybe it's better for both of us to be left in the dark on that matter.

"Your wound isn't very serious. But it's infected. The bird that attacked you had a poison on its claws. Since I don't know what kind of poison I have no idea how to cure it so." I trail off unable to complete the sentence due to the growing lump in my throat and the shame in my heart.

I've never had to wonder if I was good or bad before. I've always thought of myself as good. After all, my power is healing which is good. It is good to heal people. But I am not healing this man. I am letting him die. Which is the same thing as killing him. And since he has done nothing to me this is basically an unfeeling act of murder. Just like the one Naraku committed when he slaughtered my pack. Am I, am I any better than Naraku?

No, no the needs of the many outweigh the needs of the few. This is the right thing to do. My pack, Kurai, Shinya, they would want me to avenge them!... But would they want me to avenge them like_ this_? By not helping when I know that I can? But without my freedom I will not be able to kill Naraku. And the longer he lives the more misery and suffering he'll cause. I'm doing the right thing. I-I know I'm doing the right thing. I have to be doing the right thing!

"So the answer is yes?" He frowns.

I give him a slow nod, my expression nothing but solemn.

Our eyes are locked and I feel as if his golden ones are piercing my very soul. He can see my inner turmoil. He can see that I am playing god by choosing if he lives or if he dies. But seeing that his eyes don't glaze over with hate and disgust and instead stay blank I assume he can not. Because no one can look at your soul... Or no one I know of can do that. And this man does not give off the aura that he can. It is simply those golden eyes, they make you feel like they can see through anything.

He recovers from this news quicker than I expected he would.

"What's your name?" He demands softly. It's still a demand but I suppose he has the right to demand something from me since I am withholding the secret to his recovery.

"Hana." I whisper, I could barely get it out before I have to choke back tears because, no matter what I tell myself what I'm doing isn't right. But it has to be done, it just has to. I have to be the one to kill Naraku. Or I have to at least be there to aid in his downfall. I can't do that if my other power is discovered. Koga will never let me leave his side.

"Well Hana, could you please get Tohru for me." He asks.

"_Tohru_?" I ask, inner conflict momentarily forgotten.

"My mate."

"Oh." It comes back full force. "S-sure, I'll j-just be a second."

He has a mate. I am now making the conscious decision to let somebodies mate, _die_. I am consciously condemning someone to a life of loneliness and longing for their dead mate. The mate that I might as well have _murdered_. Even if this man could forgive me, his mate certainly could not.

She would hate me, and she would try to kill me. But Koga would stop her because I am 'his woman' and his jewel detector and she'd have to look at me the rest of her life. For as long as she is with this pack she'd have to treat me as her sister, to protect me like I was her best friend. All the while she'd be wishing that she could kill me, that she could avenge her mate, the one I killed. But she wouldn't be able to because then she'd die. Koga would kill her for getting her well deserved revenge on my twisted, evil soul.

I shakily push myself to my feet as I try not to throw up from the sheer guilt that is taking over every part of my being. My pack would want me too avenge them but certainly not like this. Certainly not at the cost of someone's mate. A single tear rolls down my cheek as I look down, no longer able to look at this man, that I am killing, who has a mate.

I take a deep breath to calm myself before I turn away from him and start to walk off. But I don't get far before realize I have no idea what this Tohru looks like or where to find her. I look back ready to tell the man this but when I see the urgent expression on his face I decide not to. All he wants to do is hold his mate before he dies an unnecessary death. I should do my best to find her so he can.

I give him a sad smile as a silent apology for choosing to let him suffer before I wander off to find his mate.

I've only just made it out of the "medical room" before Koga magically appears in front of me accompanied by a little dust tornado and two other wolves. I think the grey haired one is called Ginta and the one with the strangely styled white hair is Hakkaku.

"Trying to escape again?" Koga glares.

"No." I hiss trying to make myself look less guilty, pathetic and good lord,_ I am actually killing someone_.

My Mother would be so ashamed of me right now.

The look Koga' is giving me makes it clear he doesn't believe me. I'll be worried about building his trust later. At the moment I have bigger fish to fry.

"Look! I don't have time for this! The man I tried to heal is going to die soon and he wants to see his mate, Tohru, before he does. Can you help me find her?!" I growl.

I don't even have the right to be mad at him anymore, I'm just as bad, how can I run around claiming I'm good when I'm doing something so clearly wrong, so clearly evil. This is evil. And I am evil and is anyone actually good?

"Masashi is gonna die?" Hakkaku's face takes on a look of sadness that almost makes me pity him. You're always saddened when a pack member dies but he looks a bit more heartbroken than what is usual. They must be good friends.

So I am not just taking away a mate, I am taking away a friend, a pack member, a son and perhaps a brother. Knowing this, and his name, only makes my guilt worse and I want to physically fall to my knees and throw up.

_Masashi_, the man that did nothing to me and the man I killed.

"I-I'm afraid so." Oh god, don't start crying.

"There's nothing you can do?" Koga frowns.

"N-no." I manage to choke out. The word feels like poison on my tongue and the weight on my shoulders only seems to get heavier.

"Ginta, go get Tohru." Koga grunts.

Ginta nods before running off to find Masashi's mate. I watch him walk through the waterfall, shoulder's slouched and head hung low. And watching that makes me feel much, much worse. I keep staring at the waterfall until Koga steps in front of it, then I'm staring at his chest plate. He says something, his tone is threatening, but I can't hear the words. I'm too busy trying not to cry which only makes me wanna cry more.

Suddenly I find myself being forced to look up at Koga. Which means he can now see the un-shed tears that are pooling in my eyes. His glare loses some of it's bite before he let's go of my face with a grunt. I let it fall back into it's former head hanging in shame position.

"What's wrong with you?"

"I-I don't like death." I'm awful.

His reply is another grunt. After that I hastily wipe at my eyes so when Tohru comes I won't be crying. I have no right to cry over this, I did this.

I don't have to wait long for Ginta to return. He's back in a matter of minutes and walking beside him is Tohru. Masashi's mate, _Masashi's pregnant mate_. This time I have to actually swallow down the bile that is creeping up my throat.

She has curly, unkempt brown hair that goes all the way down to her waist. Her skin has a slight tan to it, but it's still rather light. Her bottom lip is quivering and tears are rolling down her baby faced cheeks. One hand is resting on her overly large stomach that holds her baby. The baby that will grow up without a Father. Because of me.

The pretty young lady waddles over to me and before I know what's going on she is hugging me.

"Thank you for trying." She whispers.

And with that my heart breaks into millions of little pieces. I can't even respond to her kind words because I am letting her mate die and she doesn't know what she's talking about. So I gently wiggle out of her grip and take hold of her hands. I squeeze them and open my mouth to say something but find myself without any words to speak because, what can I say to her? Sorry that I'm letting the Father of your child die. No hard feelings?

So instead I just pull her into the section of the cave made for the sick and injured and over to her mate.

As soon as she sees him she's running over to him as best as she can in her current state, collapses onto her knees and just stares at him. She desperately looks like she wants to hold him but one glance at the bandages and her hands recoil and she starts sobbing. His left arm comes up and he cups the side of her face with a bitter-sweet smile tugging at his lips. With a small wince he shifts his position, pulls her onto his lap and buries his head into the crook of her neck.

For a while he mumbles things like "It will be okay" and "Please stop crying", but when he realizes they aren't helping he just holds her.

The two are soon joined by Hakkaku who just sits down next to the pile of furs they're laying on. But they soon pull him into their tight hug and that's when I notice something. Although they don't have the same hair color Hakkaku and Masashi look a lot like each other. I don't mean in a weird, oh what a coincidence way, I mean they look like brothers.

_You can't do this. It's not right. You know it isn't._

I know it isn't right. But I'm doing it for a reason. I'm doing it for my pack and my tea-

_You're doing it for yourself and you know it! You're doing it because you're afraid. You're doing it because of all those warnings your elders put into your head about having your power discovered scare you. You're doing this because you're a **coward.**_

These wolves captured me! I owe them nothing! I don't know why I bothered trying to help them in the first place! The only thing I should be focusing on is finding the bird with the shard and escaping with Kagome.

_Koga captured you, not this wolf. This wolf did nothing to you. He's never even met you before. He was just doing his duty when he got hurt. And now he's going to die and leave behind a mate and pups. But you can stop that from happening. If you stop being a coward you can heal him._

I- what about Kagome?! This will affect her to you know!

_Kagome would want you to do what's right._

Fine! I'll heal him, but when this goes terribly wrong and we never get the chance to escape ever again I want you to look back on this moment and think about what you condemned us to.

_Blah, blah, blah stop running your god damned trap and go and heal that man before it's too late! _

I didn't really want to do what she was telling me but I have the strangest feeling that I didn't have a choice in the matter. Although it happens very rarely when I do something my other half does not agree with she'll take over and force me to do what she wants. In total it's happened only eleven times. When it happens she never does anything destructive, in fact she usually saves my life or the life of someone I care about when she does it.

She's not a new part of my life either, she's been her my whole life. I can't even remember a time when I didn't have her. My parents and the elders always assumed she was a side effect of my strange healing power. Since it's the only theory they had it's the one I've gone along with. One of the creepiest things about her is that while we share a body she seems to have a different energy supply. My friends have told me that when I pass out during a battle she'll often come out and finish it for me. But the number one reason she scares me is because while she can look into my thoughts I can not look into her's.

She could be evil and I wouldn't know because I can't hear her until she wants me to. My childhood nightmares were filled with her taking over and destroying everything I love. But now I'm older and since she hasn't done anything bad I've given her the benefit of the doubt. Now we've come to an uneasy peace treaty. I stay in control the majority of the time and when the situation is absolutely, positively, necessary, she can take over. I have no idea if she honors that agreement when I'm sleeping.

As I move to take a step forward Koga grabs my forearm and pulls me back.

"Stop, they need to say their goodbyes." He orders.

"If you let me go over there they won't have to say goodbye period." I wrench my arm from his grip. It didn't really hurt or anything, it was just the fact that he had the nerve to actually touch me.

"What are you talking about? You already tried saving him."

"I tried saving him the regular way. Now I'm going to try it my way."

"And what is your way?" He asks.

"We're wasting time." I frown.

"if you tell me what you're about to do I'll let you go."

"But you'll be able to see it in like ten seconds!" I growl.

"If you're so concerned about wasting time then I suggest you hurry up."

"Okay than. Ever since I was born I've had this gift. It allows me to heal people I don't know how it happens it just does."

"Why didn't you do this earlier?"

"Because I'm not stupid. I can sense the shards and you've already kidnapped me for that. Did you really expect me to just list off all my other special talents?" I scoff.

"Well why are you doing it now?"

"Because If I don't I'll hate myself for the rest of my life." I sigh.

"Now. Can I please go do what I'm meant to do?!" I'm really exasperated at this point because does he _want_ him to die?!

He just nods with another one of his annoying smirks starting to form. He's probably thinking of how much more powerful he'll be with me as his mate.

I shake away my anger as I approach Masashi. I have to be completely at peace when I'm healing someone. Any form of negativity will keep me from healing, it's one of the odd and annoying quirks that come with the power.

"I'm gonna have to ask you two to move for a second." I mumble as I stretch my body.

"What?" Tohru stutters.

"Please hold your questions till I'm done." I sigh.

I'm about to push them off when Koga orders them to move. This time they jump away from Masashi like he's the hottest thing in the world. I sit down next to him, close my eyes and try to relax. Let me tell you trying to relax while there's a dying guy in front of you isn't an easy thing to do. But I manage to do it just like I always do and a warm glow starts to spread through my body. It feels a bit like sitting outside in the bitter winter air and suddenly the sun come out and melts away all the snow and warms you from head to toe. Or like sinking into a hot spring after a long day.

It's almost a bit painful since I haven't healed in a while but after a few minutes of the warmth pulsing through my body it feels wonderful. Healing is almost an addiction because the more I use it the better I feel. After I heal people I have to go to sleep but when I wake up I don't have to eat, sleep or even sit down for a few days and will still feel energized and refreshed. It's amazing. Until the effect wear off, then I'm back to the regular old me and I once again become a pathetic excuse for a demon.

I open my eyes to find everything tinted white and that's how I know it really worked. I slowly move my hands to Masashi's wound. I let them hover over it for a few seconds until my hands become surrounded my a bright purple light. I'm faintly aware that he is hissing in pain but I ignore that because I have to stay focused. I slowly move my hands closer and closer until they're actually pressing into the wound. I flinch at the feeling of blood and open flesh but continue to press. When I ease up on the pressure the wound has lost its strange orange coloring and is now just a whole.

I pull my hands completely away and hold them up towards the sky as if I was cupping water. A ball of bright blue energy quickly fills my hands. Before anyone can blink I've pressed it into the wound. And just like that it's over. My eyes return to normal, my hands stop glowing and Masashi's wound is just a memory.

No one is talking as I regain my breathe. They're all just staring at me with their eyes wide with shock. Even the bed's around us have stopped to see what was going on. I don't really care though because I feel like I got stepped on by a giant troll.

"H-he healed, you healed him." Hakkaku gasps pointing at where the wound once was with a grin.

"Yep." I pant.

"How did you? How was that even possible?!" Ginta asks.

"Don't know and I don't care." I frown clutching my head.

"Is something wrong?" Koga asks.

"No, I just feel dizzy after this. When I heal someone although I barely even notice it anymore I take on all the pain that they were feeling. It's only mental and doesn't really hit till after it's done. It'll pass." I explain.

"You're feeling what I just went through?" Masashi asks with sympathy.

"Yes but it's fine I've suffered much, much worse." I've built up a very high tolerance to pain so it really wasn't that bad.

After a few more minutes it's completely passed and I unfurl my fingers from my hair, wipe the tears from the corner of my eyes and take a deep breathe.

"What did I tell you boys? She's a special one." Koga pats my head and I shoot him a tired look.

"Thank you so much for this!" Tohru smiles, she's still crying but now her tears are joyful ones.

"You're welcome." I smile back.

"Koga, could you take me back to Kagome I want to rest." I yawn.

He nods and picks me up which I would object to but I don't have the energy to fight with the bastard. As he carries me off I wave to Ginta, Hakkaku, Masashi and Tohru who are still staring at where Masashi should be injured with looks of wonder on their faces.

"See you." I frown.

I really hope I didn't screw myself out of my freedom by doing this.

* * *

**IMPORTANT AUTHOR'S NOTE**: Hana seemed like a bit of a Mary Sue to me so I went back and changed a couple of things in the first chapter. One of them being that she can no longer transform into a huge wolf. It's fine if she looses control of herself when she does, but she was able to control it. _A__nd_ control what size she turned into _and _she can heal people _and_ she senses shards? That seems a _bit_ Mary Sue to me. So I tweaked a couple of things.

Like making her some-what inexperienced in combat.

I also had to put a downside to her healing ability because she can't see shards and heal people without having a real weakness. The downside is she doesn't have as much stamina/energy as other demons and she heals a bit slower.

Why? Because her power takes up a lot of energy, even when inactive.

She can heal things like disease and sickness with almost no repercussions other than some slight dizziness afterwards. But it's harder for her to heal a physical wound. She can only heal 14 people if they have serious, but not deadly physical wounds. If they're on the very brink of death she can't do anything, the power won't work.

After she heals them she'll pass out and will be unconscious for a while. If she heals more... well, let's hope she doesn't.

As for her enchanted sword "Asuma" it's a European arming sword.


	7. Chapter 7

It was ridiculous how good it felt to be easing myself into the deliciously warm waters of the Hot spring. It had been much too long since I'd taken a bath, especially with all that I'd been through lately. What with the battle before Kagome and I got captured, the trying to escape and my fear I had worked up a nice amount of sweat.

The extra liquid on my body allowed dirt to cling to it much more easily and to put it simply I looked like a mess. I hadn't even known I looked so bad until I had glanced at my reflection in the water. Usually Kagome tells me when I'm looking a little grubby but she had been too busy worrying to do so. She said she hadn't even noticed till I brought it up which mean neither of us knew how long I'd been looking like _this_!

Now I'm not trying to impress anyone because I'm still a prisoner but still, this was unacceptable! My hair was tangled beyond what I would think possible and it was severely matted in the back because of some blood.

Apparently when I'd hit my head while saving Kagome from Koga's initial attempt to capture her it had been harder than I thought. The wound had healed but the blood remained and I was letting out a frustrated sigh at just the thought of scrubbing the filth out of my hair. My face was smudged with so much dirt that I looked like a beggar and-and, ugh. The things that are wrong with my appearance are too numerous to list and thinking about them is starting to irritate me.

"_Hana_." Kagome taps my shoulder with an odd looking bottle and I stare at her in confusion as she continues to tap me before I realize she wants me to take it.

I do so with a blush spreading across my cheeks. "What is this?"

"It's soap. It's a different kind than what I usually bring for you but it's similar and smells even better." She says.

"Thank you." I mumble before opening it and taking an experimental sniff.

Heh! She's right, it smells amazing! I'm not quite sure what the scent is but it's familiar and I find myself taking deeper breathes as I try to place the odd, yet, mouthwatering scent.

"It's called "Everlasting Sunshine". I think it's a mixture of passion flower and vanilla. Smells good right?" She explains this with a smile as she opens up a bottle of Blue soap that she calls "Ocean Breeze". It's a nice fresh scent but I don't care for it that much. She loves the stuff though and Sango is also a big fan.

"Vanilla huh? No wonder I love it so much." I chuckle.

She chuckles back before she begins to lather some of the goo onto her skin, I quickly follow her example and start to scrub at my dirt smudged skin.

"Tohru san." Says a short haired Brunette bathing a couple feet away from us. She was young looking and probably around 160 years old. "Do you need help Tohru san?"

"No Nakami, I'm pregnant, not injured. I can get into the spring without breaking something." Tohru laughs as she awkwardly attempts to get in.

"You sure?" The girl asks watching the older woman struggle with a twinkle in her eyes. That and her smirk made it very clear she was amused by Tohru's attempts at being independent.

"Yes I'm sure." Tohru grumbles.

"_If you say so_." Nakami shrugs and just continues to watch.

"Ah." Tohru sighs as she finally manages to get in. "Told you I could do it!" She smiles.

"I never said you couldn't, I just asked if you wanted help." Nakami rolls her eyes before ducking under the water and swimming off towards a gathering of young wolf girls at the other side of the spring.

This was one of the largest hot springs I'd ever seen. It was enough for at least forty demons to fit in inside it comfortably. It would be even bigger but a bunch of large rocks and boulders had been moved into the middle of it to create two separate bathing areas for females and males.

"What's that?" Tohru asks poking the bottle of soap.

"Just soap. You're welcome to try it." I shrug.

She nods before opening it up and squirting some of the orange goo into her hand. She pokes at the gel for a couple of minutes before putting it to her skin.

"Thank you for bringing us with you to bathe Tohru san." I thank her.

"Please after all you've done for me the least I can do is bring you to bathe. Besides, some of the girls were curious about their future alpha female." She giggles.

"Uh huh." I frown.

I'd almost forgotten about Koga's claim on me. God dammit what am I gonna do about that?! I haven't put much thought to it because whenever I think of what I'm gonna do about it the scenarios lead to chopping off his head. No matter how I initially approach the topic I'll always end up at chop off his head. It's either that or rip out his throat and I can do neither. Not just because I fear for Kagome's life but because I doubt I could actually lay a hand on him on my own.

See while I'm a better swordsman than Inuyasha when it comes to techniques and the proper way to do things he can still beat me in a fight. Inuyasha has beaten some of the best in fights and along comes Koga with his jewel shards and he nearly beats Inuyasha! If he almost beat Inuyasha he could probably kill me, as much as I hate to admit it.

... If I could somehow get Kagome a bow and some arrows than we could level the playing field. But I'd have to get my hands on one first and I don't think _that's_ happening any time soon. And even if I _could_ get her one, and we _did_ manage to take out Koga there would be hundreds of wolves that would want our heads out of revenge and they'd stop at nothing to get it. Plus I don't know this territory and they do. We'd be caught and killed in less than ten minutes if we managed to last that long against the pack at all!

Not to mention that the pack is family so they wouldn't just peacefully sit back and watch Koga get murdered either. The pack protects each other, that includes the Alpha no matter how strong the Alpha might be. That time when I had slapped Koga I had only slapped him. If I had used a real attack then regardless of what Koga said his more blindly devoted followers would have tried to kill me. That's just how the wolf pack works.

GOD DAMMIT IN ANY PLAN I MAKE WE ALWAYS END UP DYING!

Does this mean that are only possible hope against beating the pack and Koga is if all of our friends are here to fight besides us?... I am a failure of a demon.

"I'm sorry did I say something wrong?" She blinks.

My inner brooding session was apparently showing on my face.

"Not really." I sigh.

It's not really her fault. She was just making idle chit chat. Girl talk. She probably sees nothing wrong with being the Alpha's mate. If anything she assumes that I was happy about it, prisoner or not. I'm a wolf demon so I must be honored, if not over joyed to have an Alpha trying to claim me. Most female demons would jump at the chance to mate an Alpha, wolf demon or not. But I am not most, I am me and I do not appreciate being captured and then told that I will be someone's mate.

And let's not forget the eating Humans part. Now I've always been around demons that eat Humans. Most demons eat Humans. But personally I had only done it once and that was because I was young and didn't have a clear understanding of what right and wrong was. I didn't mind others eating Human flesh though because I just accepted it as a part of who they were. It wasn't until after I had started to travel and meet Humans did I start to really oppose they're consumption as a food supply because I realized they were just like us.

That they were not something to be used, abused, looked down upon or eaten but that they were living, feeling beings and should be treated as such. That they should be treated as our equals and we should live together in harmony.

Seeing Koga eat Humans, watching his whole pack eat Humans as if it were nothing is like a blast from the past of watching my own pack do so. The difference is that this time I know how wrong it is and it hurts because I'm forced to deal with the fact that my pack wasn't as good as I thought. That I'm not as good as I thought because I had also eaten Human flesh before. And it's unsettling to be around people that make you question yourself and those you loved most.

If I lacked empathy I'd probably have eaten Kagome and most of my Human friends a long time ago and that's also a scary thought. It's scary to think about how monstrous I could have become. That I could've become like Koga and used Humans for food and as pawns to gain more power.

...Maybe if I was young and innocent again, maybe if I didn't have morals or goals beyond having a mate and pups I'd be happy or flattered by Koga's 'courting'. Maybe I'd jump at the chance to be the mate of an Alpha. But I am not young or innocent, I have morals and I have goals. Goals that Koga is standing directly in the way of and since I'm in such a bad mood all I truly want to do is kill him.

But it's a creepy thing to think about. That if Naraku hadn't killed my pack and if Koga and I had by some 'miracle' still crossed paths that I'd actually become his _willing_ mate... Dear lord that's a scary thought.

"Ugh, I'm always doing things like this. I always make people uncomfortable." She moans.

"It's okay Tohru san, you really did nothing wrong." I frown.

"You saved my mate's life and I repay you by making you upset! Oh you must hate me!"

I sweat-drop at how dramatic she's acting. The Tohru I met two days ago and the Tohru I'm seeing now are two very different people. But I should've expected that since she was grieving over her mate when I met her.

I've gotta steer the conversation away from this subject.

"Tohru san. Do you know what you're carrying?"

"Huh?" She stops crying. "Oh yes, I visited a witch and she told me I was carrying a boy." She smiles.

"Oh that's nice." I smile back before starting to bathe again.

It takes about two minutes before I'm interrupted once again. This time it's by Nakami and some girl with Snow white hair.

As she swims towards me with slow and decisive strokes her hair catches the light and gains a silver tint. Her small lips were curved into a small smile, one that did not reach her eyes and I could tell she was suppressing some serious anger. Speaking of her eyes they were a deep blood red with the odd fleck of Gold and as she got closer her eyes got darker.

Her face is squarish with high cheekbones and her skin is a light Olive. Her looks in general were a bit strange and you wouldn't think that each individual trait would look good together and they probably don't. But she, she was an exception and she was breathtaking. She looked like a goddess and that was only by looking at her face. If you put her face and her body together... I don't think words have been invented to describe how amazing she is.

As she gets closer her eyes become harsher and I can already tell she's sizing me up. Her hate was instant and I could only see one reason for it. _Koga_. She must have wanted to be his mate. His scent is all over her but not in the certain areas that a male would mark a female. It's clear she's touched him but he hasn't touched her.

... I wonder what's wrong with her for him to not want her as a mate. She looks absolutely perfect! Man she must be _seriously_ messed up personality wise. But does Koga even look for personality? Well loyalty is obviously a big seller for him. Otherwise I've got no idea. I don't know anything about that rotten wolf brat.

"Hello." Her voice is thick and seductive and I'm starting to wonder if she was **made** to make men fall to their knees and worship her.

"Um, hi." I smile awkwardly.

"You're quite good looking." She says this more to herself than to me but she still holds eye contact.

"Thank you."

"You don't look like the kind Koga would bed though." She sniffed.

There it is.

"CORNELIA!" Tohru shouts. "You can't talk to her like that!"

"I am so sorry. I don't know how she could be so rude." She turned to apologize to me.

I honestly didn't care. She could be as passive aggressive as she wanted. I didn't want to bed Koga.

"Maybe I'm not. But the reason he wants to bed me-" I shiver a bit. "Is not because of my body."

"That's right isn't it." She smirks her eyes gaining a murderous glint that puts me on edge.

Women were very territorial over the man they wanted to be their mate. They would kill another female over their chosen male. That was something I'd learned early in life by just watching two women who wanted the same male in a room together. They would kill each other with their eyes if it wasn't mating season. During mating season people would be very horribly injured. Most were males but some women.

I find it funny how some species can share men. That's just not a thing in wolf culture. Sometimes we bed just to bed but we mate for life. We don't share. At all. We'd rather rip the throat out of competition than even think of sharing. Pack is kind of dead when you become of mating age.

I never succumbed to the foolishness of heat or love (thank god) but many have. And even some over me. Which is to be expected with my abilities. I was quite important to my pack being the top healer. Mating me would've been a good way to rank up. Unfortunately none of them caught my eye. They just weren't interesting I guess. But they sure could fight! They beat the hell out of each other over me!

...Which was annoying because I had to heal the dumb asses. It was impressive though. I didn't know people could sustain such damage and still be able to walk.

"He chose you for your powers." I watched as one of her hands slowly came out of the water. Her claws glinted in the sunlight.

"And what powers they are. The ability to see the scared jewel shards and the ability to heal. You don't come across those very often." Her smirk turned into small smile and it was as if the spirit of evil itself hadn't just graced her face.

"Your Human has the ability to see them to. Correct?"

"Yes." My jaw tightens and I inch closer to her.

"Very impressive and strange." She laughs.

"I'll take that as a compliment."

"You should. I'm not easily impressed."

"Me neither." I smile.

I was particularly not impressed with her.

"It's even more strange that you keep human mikos as company. Word is you also travel with a hanyou."

"Well to each their own." How did she know that?

"Indeed." Man she HATES me.

"I think it might be time for us to leave. Kagome? Hana? Would you like to go?" Tohru looks like she's about to start sweating buckets.

"Yes. I want to see if my help is needed." I nod and begin to crawl out the hot spring. Once I'm out I turn to look back down at my new 'friend'.

"Well it was nice to meet you..." I trail off and realize I forgot her name. Pretty sure Tohru had said it. But I was too busy not caring to catch it.

"Cornelia." She almost growls.

"Cornelia. It was nice to meet you Cornelia." I smile and help Tohru and Kagome out.

I wave to the few others I had met before turning to get dressed. I wanted to leave and get to a place where I could no longer feel her eyes on me. Watching me like she wished to eat me. Plus Koga had wanted to talk to me or something.

Actually he had woken me up in the middle of the night while I resting off the negative effect healing can have on me and demanded that I come and find him when I was better rested. Because he can't just ask me to spend some time with him. He's too good for that. Because he is KOGA OF THE SOUTHERN WOLF TRIBE! RAWR!

God the guy is more full of himself than Inuyasha!

"Let's hurry up." Kagome whispers as she glances back at Cornelia who is still watching us.

"I'm with you on that one." I frown.

* * *

This chapter does not have Koga (sadly). BUT THE NEXT CHAPTER WILL! So rejoice my little sheep. Rejoice while you can. Because this is an Inuyasha story and you mustn't forget that at some point there will be great suffering. So be happy while you can.


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